Joachim the Coward

lumicakery

Tittle : Joachim the Coward
Short Code : NW-DKK8NIRO6
Author : @lumicakery
Average Duration : 15-25 minutes
Author's Tag : Combat focus, story focus, solo friendly, group friendly, adjustable difficulty

Quest Description :
In a time where the King of Shadows threaten the lands, there stood three mighty souls that stood against him. Joachim the Brave, Cassandra the Pure, and Richter the Wise.

However, as the destruction slowly spread across the land, Joachim became desperate to protect his people. He sought an unconventional means of gaining power...

That power... Was the Twilight Arena.

Screenshots :

eskarine

I have just finished and left a review in-game.

That said, the quest was really, really good. I loved the idea of the arena trapping you inside.

I went for solo play and I did not go to optional map because I'm not really big fan of fighting maps - that said, the fighting in the main story was well done. The plot was gripping and I wanted to go forward to see how it all ends.

The only negative thing I could say is that maps were a little bit monotonous and could use some decor, but that's just me nitpicking.

Love the final arena, such cool effects.

rumrunner711

Thanks for testing my quest, here's my review of yours.

Played with: 42 Devoted Cleric + companion

This was a great adventure! A good mix of combat and story.
The maps are designed well and the ambience really lends a feeling of hopelessness to certain characters and the story overall.

Suggestions
Dialog
- After reaching fifth floor, talking to The Emissary, change "ubearable" to "unbearable"
- Seeing the spirits, talking to The Emissary, change "spirirts" to "spirits" (not sure which objective, sorry)

Combat
I chose between solo and duo for the fights, didn't choose the bonus map.
Combat was satisfying and fun, worked well with the story. The end fight was challenging and fun.
- Objective: Reach the Tenth Floor, Joachim disappeared during the fight? (Maybe it's supposed to happen? Or he got knocked off the edge?)
- The arena started feeling a bit repetitive, design wise - but the end fights changed it up nicely.

Really good quest!

winterswitch

Hey Lumicakery.

Just ran your arena, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Moving from level to level was a cool touch that gave a sense of progression. Great fights for a solo TR.

Only saw a few typos:

--Mysterious Woman dialogue: "onimous aura" should be "ominous aura"
--Objective: "Reach the Nineth Floor" and "Reach the Twelveth Floor" should be "Ninth" and "Twelfth".

Please give "Hive Mind" a look when you can. Info is in my sig. Thanks! @Sintered

phoenicianson

Lum, you publish a lot of quests? I just played another one of yours a few days ago... Anyway, I loved the other one, so I am going to give this one a whirl today, give you my thoughts. Looking forward!

phoenicianson

Lum, by far, this is the BEST, hands down, arena foundry! Without question. I am so very, very disappointed that I couldn't get passed, what I assume to have been, the final battle on the 13th floor. I just couldn't survive the hits, as a CW Lev60, even with 12,500 GS. The problem is that despite hammering all of these elites, they heal themselves based on the Adventurer class, I assume, you used. So, I couldn't survive despite trying at least 10 times, because I wanted to finish the quest. Here are some of my notes:

1. Very cool difficulty slider, although the "test" slider on the first map, I was confused as to whether the count was for my party or the counters, so I selected one, thinking it was for solo... I assume afterwards it mean the count for the encounters. Maybe consider using that same OOC description you integrated for the first dialogue once in the arena for the testing ground on the first map.

2. Very funny OOC descriptions, and very informative... probably the most informative I have seen yet, which is great to make an "informed" decision as to what level play. By the way, based on your descriptions, I used Level 3, since I have all Tier 2 equipment with bonuses, but I could not survive that last encounter with all of those elites, that also heal themselves on the 13th Floor.

3. This may be a bug, but Joachim did not spawn on the 3rd floor, until I killed one of the two standards. However, since that was a grouping, I know that could not have been an appearance rule, so maybe check into it, but it is probably a bug. Joachim did not spawn at all on the 13th Floor, where I probably could have used him the most.. but, he is the coward, so maybe that was the purpose.

4. On the 4th Floor, for the dialogue between Joachim and Marcella, after they are done, it looks a bit forced to have them disappear. Maybe have Joachim spawn to the friendly encounter immediately after that clicky dialogue, instead of after the dialogue that follows, and have Marcella walk away. More realistic, but suggestive, not an issue.

5. I was a bit confused as to the dialogue purpose before the 7th Floor battle, with the selection of one, two, three or four. I selected "Three", but I was not sure what that would do in that particular circumstance. If that is a deciding factor for that 13th Floor slaughter, then please elaborate a little more on the purpose of that number selection.

6. I am playing on one of my laptops, which is very powerful, but when there is a lot of lighting "in real life", it was difficult to see my surroundings on the 8th Floor... maybe I had just noticed it at that point, but consider adding a few more ambient lighting sources.

I loved the optional dialogues with Joachim, and that they reward you with these mission items... I truly wish I could have found out what these objects would have done if I survived that 13th Floor slaughter. With that, I would like to suggest that you consider breaking up that 13th Floor battle with all of those Elite Adventurers into a multi-objective storyline. I couldn't take down even one of them before being slaughtered, despite my very high GS for a mage. I just don't have the defense, and the healing potions that these encounters use make it **** near impossible to overcome the swarm of attacks.

Again, hands down, best, and I mean, best, arena on the foundry! Before that, it was that one where you get invited to the alternate realm that was hosted on a fully customized map. Despite that map being incredibly detailed and creative, your arena foundry offer more depth than any other I have seen. I thoroughly enjoyed the quest, and am going to try it again at an easier level so I can finish the quest to see what happens at the end. Before I do, can you please clarify, if I choose the easiest difficulty, will it also reduce that 13th Floor battle difficulty, or do those particular sets of encounters stand alone outside of the difficulty slider? I ask because the dialogue suggests that they have the opportunity for revenge against me, and I didn't want to play through all the way to get frustrated for not being able to finish again.

Thanks dude! Great job.

winterswitch

Just ran "Fate", also. Great stuff. Only major issue was that I had two Katriona followers at one point. See my in-game comments.